Worry

Jake had a rough week. It scared me. It scared me because our only option was going to be the ER. It started with his wisdom teeth pushing through. The top ones came in while he was too sick to really notice. The bottom ones have been trying to push through long enough, without enough space, that his once straight teeth are now crooked. But the second one hurt worse and there was the swelling. By all accounts, the outside of his jaw looked like he was keeping a golf ball in there. Infection. Tooth infections can be dangerous for a healthy person. I felt like it was an emergency. An oral surgeon saw him the next day. He prescribed a common antibiotic and we followed up with a cheeseburger. We would put off extraction as long as possible. Meanwhile Jake is starting to taper down on a commonly prescribed drug for neuropathy pain. I’ve talked at length with the pharmacist  and doctor about this process. There are many drugs that cannot be stopped cold turkey. This definitely could cause problems. Within 48 hours, the swelling was gone. New symptoms arose. My throat hurts. I feel like a pill got stuck in the back of my throat. Then nausea set in. Jake was sleeping more than he was awake. He wasn’t going downstairs to play on his computer, he wasn’t watching YouTube and, most importantly, he wasn’t eating. The pain moved to his chest. I emailed his transplant nurse several times. I considered going back to the oral surgeon. He was willing to take another look, but I knew it was no longer a tooth issue. Do you want to go to the ER? I asked when the nurse suggested we go to our primary care physician. We don’t have a primary care physician anymore for Jake. I was irritated, but knew that deep down it wasn’t her fault. They don’t have the capabilities to examine him at the bone marrow clinic. Of course he didn’t want to go to the ER. I decided to call the pharmacy. She talked to me at length even though she really didn’t have the time. We discussed the antibiotic. It could definitely cause side effects. He’d had it for 7 of the 10 days, and I ultimately decided to stop it. He’d had enough to be effective, but he literally said that he could not, would not take another dose of it. I would give it the weekend. Then Monday we would go to the ER. Saturday night he asked for mac and cheese at midnight. A good sign. The next day he slept and slept. I couldn’t take it any longer. Jake, get up! We are going to the ER. He woke up, cleared his head and told me that he felt fine. Can I have a bacon cheeseburger? I sat there and watched him eat. He talked to his dad about someone skydiving without a parachute. He pulled it up on YouTube, and we watched it. They tried to convince me they were going skydiving. I feel good. The pain is gone. He ate without nausea. Later we went for ice cream and he ate dinner. He spent the evening playing on his computer with friends. The effects of the antibiotic were gone. I had my kid back. Before it got dark, he and his 50 year old father took off on skate boards. There was only one fall. It was the 50 year old….